, 1887-10-15
THE WHITE CAT

We called her the Duchess, SO stately
and handsome was she; and we were all
very fond of her. All but my old friend
Tom Harding.
Directly you saw her your admiration
was caught; she was SO large, her coat
was so luxuriant and white, and her tail
was 80 splendid. You would exclaim:
"What a magnificent creaturei' And
when she walked sedately to you, placed
her great, soft forepaws on your knee,
and with a gentle whimper gazed for a
moment into your face before proceeding
to the hearthrug, you would say delight
edly: What a perfect lady! What
charming mannersi She almost speaksl"
We-that is my wife and I-were ac-
customed to remarks of that kind. ALI
our friends made them upon first seeing
1.-The Duchess" We expected them; we
looked forward to them, and they graft
fled us; for not having at that time been
blessed with children, we lavished much
of our spare affection and pride upon our
cat. In the case of Tom Harding we
were disappointed. The introduction
went off very badly. When our favorite
was presented Tom regarded her with
positive aversion; when she rested on his
knee he brushed her off as though she
had been a snake, and rising abruptly he
walked to the window.
My wife and / looked at each other in
silent surprise. She raised her eyebrows,
and drew down the corners of her pretty
mouth as though to say, This friend of
yours of whom you AVE talked so much
turns out to be a perfect brute" | could
only reply with a shrug of the shoulders
which said, "My dear, i don't under
stand it at all" Nor did L. L had not
seen Ton Harding for several years, but
/ remembered him as a really kind heart
ed, generous fellow-ratLer inclined to
be melancholy, perhaps (his mother was
Irish and wrote poetryD-but certainly
with nothing Of the brute" about him.
When Tom returned from the window
he had another surprise for us. He had
consented to stay a few days with us; he
now announced that he had overlooked
lin his eagerness to be with me, his old
friend, of courseD certain very import
ant engagements, and that, in fact, he
would be reluctantly compelled to return
to town that very evening. My friend
excused himself, addressing my wife,
whose regret was not more than cour-
teous, in nervous, almost pleading tone.
Oh, he was so sorry! 1 didn't believe
him.
Tom, my boy"-we were sitting with
the decanter between us, after my wife
had left the dinner table-"Tom, my
boy" l said, "you have no very import
ant engagements in town"
That was my opinion, aud l took an
old friends privilege of expressing it
bluntly.
Tom started and colored slightly.
What makes you think so?'' he asked,
trifing with the nut crackers.
Il don't know exactly, but I'm sure
I'm right. You told Gertrude a fb-be
careful or your glass will be over-but
you haven't the courage to brazen it out
with me?"
Nonsense! Why should l tell your
wife a fb?'
"Why, indeed! 1t was very wrong Of
you-take another cigar if that one won't
burn-you IA only make PREPARATION by
telling her husband the truth"
MY dear fellow, | have nothing to
confess" said Tom with slight irritable
ity as he cut about half an inch off a
fresh cigar. (How | do hate to see good
cigars mutilatedD
Confess why you changed your mind
about staying so suddenly. Come" I
added, as he made no reply, I'm help
you. Some one in this house is obnox-
ious to your"
"Nvho can it be2'' exclaimed Tom
banteringly, with a view to hiding his
confusion.
Our beautiful cat CHANGED at that mo-
ment to leap from the lawn to the win
dow sill.
1.-THE Duchess, +" l said quietly, point
ing with my cigar.
Tom Harding turned pale-yes, this old
friend of mine, a full grown man, actu-
ally turned pale at the sight of a white
cat on a window sill. 1t was most ex-
tr%aordinary. So great was my surprise
and curiosity that l let my cigar 60 out.
The Duchess eyed us calmly for a few
moments, and hen jumping down she
walked over to Tom with the evident
intention-forgiving creaturel-of max
ing another attempt to cultivate his &C
Quaintance. Tom rose and walked to
another part of the o
'For once your grace has failed to
conquer" l remarked, stopping to caress
my favorite. Then l led her to the door
and bowed her out.
1 was a little annoyed, and l suppose
Tom guessed it, for he said when l re-
turned to the table: ~ am afraid you
are offended with me-"
mot with you, but with q mystery.
] hate mysteries-but let us change the
subject"
mo" he replied, nervously; II owe
you an explanation. This disagreeable
incident has forced a confession upon
me-"
"Let us change the subject" l re
peated.
1 was beginning to pity him, he seemed
30 distressed.
at is too late, " he said in almost de-
spairing tones ~ must explain, or you
will think me either O brute or a mad
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